Survey of Job Openings in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area: Week of October 19, 1998

The week of October 19, 1998, an estimated 36,991 full and part-time jobs were open for
immediate hire in the four-county Milwaukee metropolitan area. These openings are the result
of company expansions, labor shortages in difficult to fill positions, seasonal fluctuations, and
normal turnover among the 794,034 employed workers in the area. Estimates of job openings
are based on semi-annual surveys of area employers conducted by the University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee Employment and Training Institute and the UWM Institute for Survey and Policy
Research, as part of a collaborative Labor Market Project with the City of Milwaukee,
Milwaukee Area Technical College, Milwaukee Public Schools, and Private Industry Council
of Milwaukee County. The project is supported by the government partners, Helen Bader
Foundation, Milwaukee Foundation, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Total Openings

In October employers were seeking an estimated 21,515 full-time workers and
15,476 part-time employees. The largest numbers of full-time openings were concentrated in
service industries (33 percent of total openings), retail and wholesale trade (24 percent), and
manufacturing (19 percent).

Employers in the suburbs and WOW counties continued to find it more difficult to fill
full-time and part-time openings than in the City of Milwaukee. For full-time job openings, 62
percent were identified as difficult to fill in the WOW counties, 56 percent in the Milwaukee
County suburbs, 45 percent in the City of Milwaukee, and 46 percent in the central city
neighborhoods. For part-time job openings, 51 percent were considered difficult to fill in the
WOW counties, 37 percent in the Milwaukee County suburbs, 33 percent in the City of
Milwaukee, and only 22 percent in the central city neighborhoods.

Wage Rates

The federal minimum wage was raised from $4.25 to $4.75 an hour in October
1996, and
to $5.15 in September 1997. The majority of Milwaukee area employers were paying at or
above $5.15
for entry level work before the federal wage changes. Wages for remaining entry-level positions
have
continued to climb -- likely in response to both the minimum wage law and the tight labor
market. In
October 1998, only 2 percent of full-time openings and 9 percent of part-time openings paid
minimum
wage ($5.15 an hour). The average wage for jobs with no education or experience requirements
was
$7.28 for full-time openings and $6.27 for part-time work. The average pay for jobs requiring
high
school completion but no experience or training was $8.07 for full-time jobs and $7.56 for part-
time
openings.

In October 1998, 89 percent of full-time openings could support two persons above the
poverty
level, and 80 percent offered wages sufficient to support three persons above poverty and health
insurance. However, only 44 percent of full-time job openings with no education or experience
requirements offered health insurance and family-supporting wages for three-person families and
only 20 percent would support four persons.

Labor shortages were evident in Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties
where very
low unemployment levels (2.1 to 2.2 percent) showed 7,054 unemployed adults compared to
9,721 full-
time and 5,967 part-time job openings. In Milwaukee County the total number of jobs available
(10,679
full-time and 8,808 part-time openings) exceeded the number of officially counted unemployed
job seekers
(19,243 workers).

In the central city of Milwaukee Community Development Block Grant/Enterprise
Community
neighborhoods, job openings (2,334 full-time and 2,908 part-time) fell far short of the estimated
9,800
unemployed persons considered actively seeking work in October 1998 and 6,075 cases on "W-
2."

Education and Training Requirements

The high demand for trained workers continues. Over two-thirds (69 percent)
of full-time
openings required education, training or occupation-specific experience beyond high school. The
survey
showed an estimated 12,267 full-time jobs for experienced or technically trained workers, with
59 percent
of these jobs identified as difficult to fill. Employers also reported that 62 percent of the 2,550
jobs for
persons with four-year college degrees (or more) were difficult to fill.

Full-time
openings for four-year college graduates included jobs for computer programmers and
systems analysts, accountants, auditors and engineers. The most frequently listed positions
requiring
certification, licensing or an associate degree included jobs for sales workers, nursing assistants,
bill and
account collectors, secretaries and hairdressers.

The number of entry level jobs with no education or experience requirements included
4,528 full-
time openings and 6,561 part-time openings. Most frequently listed occupations for full-time
jobs in this
category included sales workers, janitors and cleaners, machine operators, food service workers
and
laborers. Part-time job openings for persons without a high school diploma or experience
included sales
workers, cashiers, and waiters and waitresses.

Entry level jobs for those with a high school diploma (2,256 full-time and 1,866 part-time
openings) were in less demand than entry level jobs with no requirements. The occupations
most
frequently listed for full-time workers were for sales workers, health aides, cashiers and bank
tellers,
while part-time jobs were open for cashiers, sales workers, information clerks, bank tellers and
child care
workers.